This is a question that has been hit round, but never quite asked in the way I wanted it to be asked. I want to know if anyone has a good recommendation for an alternative to earbuds. Let me give you my requirements. First, I find it hard to use earbuds because they hurt and they almost always fall out of my ears in less than five minutes. (I guess I have small ear channels.) I want something with which I can lie down on a pillow and not worry about crushing them, physically hurting my ear or head, or pushing off of the other ear due to a stiff band. I would also like them to not fall out of my ear. I have a pair of Sennheiser 545 headphones that I adore, but I can't wear them to bed, as they're way too big. I don't need perfect fidelity, but I do need comfort.

I know Tony's been talking about his new Sony earbud-type things, but I can't seem to find a picture. Or how about the Koss clip-ons? Or the Etymotic in-canal things? Anyone have experience with those? Or any other ideas?

I think these EX70LP Sonys do in fact fit your requirements. Picture is here, including a 360-degree view and zoom-in close ups (if you can get that feature working in your browser, I had to switch to Netscape to get it to work).

Whether or not they will tolerate SLEEPING, I don't know. But they do stay in my ears solidly, and after a little getting used to them, they don't hurt.

The only other alternative would be something where they take an actual MOLD of your ear canal. This would actually be the best for your purposes, but more expensive.

It's okay if they fall out while I'm sleeping. It's just that sometimes I need something to drown out the voices in my head while I'm trying to get to sleep.

Serously, they do look much better. Most earbuds I've seen simply don't fit into my ear well at all. They look much smaller. I'll try giving them a shot. Unless someone else thinks that they know a better solution.

I guarantee that the Etymotics will not fall out of your ears. Plus they are the sweetest sounding things I've ever heard. I've listened to a lot of expensive *speakers* and the Etymotics are better than speakers costing thousands of dollars. They are extremely isolating, so you can even shut off the music and you will hear silence. Real silence. You can hear the gears ticking in your head even.

Calvin